Saturday, January 8, 2011

Top 7 Lessons from the IPL 4 Player Auctions

Top 10 Lessons from the IPL 4 Player Auctions

1.Old is not always gold :
Sourav Ganguly,Brian Lara have been supreme forces in their times & even greater leaders but you will only be rated as per your current market value.Both are well past their prime and into the twilight post retirement.That explains why both who started at a base price of $400,000 USD went unsold.(Shockingly though)Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who went to Rajasthan Royals and Team Kochi just about managed to save face.When there is money there is no scope for emotions or any loose strings. Cold Corporate Logic as they call it.

2. If you get something right then do everything to keep it right. Never disrupt a winning combination
Chennai Superkings retained 4 of their marquee players in Dhoni,Raina,A Morkel & Vijay but made a beeline to retain most of the players who were part of the team that won IPL3. That explains why they astutely got back bollinger,hussey,badrinath loosing out on murali but compensating with ojha.

3. Life seldom gives you a second chance but when it does grab it with both hands:
KKR were on a mission. They paid a wee bit extra for Gautum Gambhir but each player They have picked has some intrinsic value.Add Sourav Ganguly to the current team and everything will look good.
Good Revamp
Gambhir-batsmen+ captain
Pathan-Allrounder
Kallis-Allrounder
Brett Lee- amazing buy at $400,000 USD
Eion Morgan and Manoj Tiwary were optimum price vs value decisions.
Even after this things can go Wrong but its a commendable start.

Delhi Daredevils have really bled if you ask me with some of their choices. Gambhir,Nannes,Vettori,Karthick,Collingwood were all good buys which they let go.

4.Cricket & Life are great levellers and every one has a destiny
You could still be India's most successful captain who just missed picking up a world cup. You could be the reason for India's current success but today even in club format nobody wants to pick you.-GangulyJP Duminy and Ishant Sharma were sold at hysterical sums based on their one season performance last time round but life stood corrected for both them as both got sold for modest sums almost half their last IPL Cost of around $900,000 USD.Irfan Pathan may not find his stars favourable to be in the Indian cricket team but got most surprising sum of $ 1.8 million USD which is a windfalll by all means.

5. Being at the right time at the right place matters:
Why else would Yuvraj only go for lesser than Robin Utthapa who went for an astronomical $ 2 billion, just as he is out of favour with the Indian selectors. For that matter Cheteswar Pujara had just got a place in the Indian team and is yet to prove himself but is picked for close to $700,000 USD.Most English players would have sold for more than 4 times their current value-specially pieterson ,collingwood and swann but as their board doesnt seem too keen to make their players fully available most franchisees have backed out by taking them onboard.Sad thing if you ask me.

6.India indeed is the developing economy:
Jokes apart all the young Indian players have been sold for astronomical sums even without being regulars in the Indian cricket team. Such is the CAGR growth of the "Indian Premier League" without being worried about any vagaries of recession
Gautam Gambhir - $ 2.4 Million ,Rohit Sharma-$ 2 Million, Robin Utthapa- $ 2 MillionPiyush Chawla $ 900 million , irfan pathan- $ 1.8 million, Trust me the average salary in USA for a 24 year old MS (Post Graduated ) Engineering student is around $80,000 to 125,000 per annum. These guys are making almost 8x to 20x that average yearly amount in a window of 45 days.Ghosh why aint I an Indian cricketer.

7. In the corporate arena maintain good relations and be diplomatic:
(You never who will come where into your life once again)Who would have thought that the monkey gate monkeys- harbhajan singh and Andrew Symmonds will be sharing the same dressing room in Mumbai for the same reason- astronomical sums of money. So always be cordial to everyone even if you dont mean it.

8. You can earn more than your boss but both must learn how to handle it:
Rohit Sharma $2.1 Million USD will earn more than Sachin Tendulkar who was retained for $1.8 Million USD. Robin Utthapa who does little than trotting his chest apart from being left out of Indian ODI,Test & T20 will pump it over Yuvraj who got a wee bit less. Man o Man..turns out Irfan Pathan is going to be paid more than Sachin,Dhoni,Sehwag.

9.Corporate Egos can cost you sometimes:
Thats exactly what explains why Saurabh Tiwary gets picked for $1.6 Million when he got amidst two IPL Teams that of Kings X1 Punjab and RCB's. Both outbid their ego's pumping a huge ransom to Tiwarys modest bank.
Gautum Gambhir was the most sought after in this round as he was an Indian with leadership skills and thus he was the eye of corporate egos and that is what fetched him his astronomical sum.

10. Even with all the planning & plotting life will always spring up surprises:
For me Brendon McCullum was the steal of the IPL 4 as he is going to be available for the whole season. He was picked up for just $425,000 USD. He can keep the wickets and is a game changer if you ask me.
Dwayne Bravo for $200,000 USD & Keven Pieteson fo $ 650,000 are also steals but depends on their availability.